Posted 2 years ago on May 29, 2012, 1:27 a.m. EST by TitusMoans
(2451)
from Boulder City, NV
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Considering many of the comments and posts made by right-wing trolls, and if those twisted souls represent a sizeable percentage of the population, can the Union be saved? Maybe it's time to consider not only amending the Constitution, but formulating a new document capable of withstanding the treachery of those who claim to defend it and to safeguard the rights of all Americans.

11 Comments

Collective bargaining should be a right, and we need a law that imposes an election requirement anytime a labor union makes an application to unionize an employer. In other words, say some union would like to unionize a Walmart store. We should not require that some Walmart employee (or group of employees) put his or her career in jeopardy in order to trigger a union election, but rather, a labor union should be able to simply make an application (to the department of labor), and trigger an election. This should be a federal law, which would enable labor unions to file applications to unionize national companies as part of a nationwide concerted effort (so the employer can't get away with threatening to close the store if employees decide to unionize).

I agree; proletarian rights should be the primary consideration with some checks to control tyranny of the majority and safeguarding minority rights.

The current process for unionization is geared to discourage worker organization purposely restricting the power of collective bargaining.

Some form of union should be mandatory to oversee all workplaces, so every individual has a place to file grievances against the management without fear of retaliation. No worker simply toils on his or her own; the work and results are a collective effort of all society as a whole. An individual's contributions cannot simply be measured by the job, however menial, because that effort contributes into the matrix of a complete system. More or less, a janitor is just as essential as a general manager; the difference being more people are qualified to do a janitor's job than a manager's. Still, that doesn't make the janitor's work any less essential.

If we regarded every job as essential, remuneration of whatever sort might be more equitable with the most skilled and productive gaining more for their individual value, but with the least skilled and least productive still obtaining enough to live well and with dignity.

No piece of paper can safeguard anyone's rights. No matter how just the ideas, or great the words. The Constitution is a perfect example. If the people are unwilling to stand up to injustice, a document will not stand up in their place.

That is a major sticking point. The Constitutions has been perverted and the safeguards of basic rights circumvented mostly by the people who the shout the loudest about the sacred Constitution, as if it were some divinely inspired document.

I believe the time has come for Americans to re-evaluate the basics of their freedoms and decide if a new beginning and new basic document are needed.

Standing on the street corner holding our protest signs it is clear that most people don't have a clue what is going on when it comes to our liberties being trampled on. A new constitution will not change that.

If the people were paying attention, Congress would be paying attention to the people. The people have allowed Congress to become cancerous, their apathy is the carcinogen that afflicts Democracy.

Occupy is not strong enough to change Congress by itself, we need to educate the public as to the liberties that are already lost. If that was all that Occupy was able to accomplish, that would be a great achievement.

It should not be up to a small group within Occupy to change or write a new Constitution, that should be done with the input and consent of a knowledgeable majority of the people.

I'm not sure the present system would allow the change needed for a workable solution.

A Constitutional convention, as some have proposed, risks being completely manipulated by the present oligarchy. After all such a convention is basically the same tired politicians trying to do what they have already failed to do.

I believe francismjenkins has a great idea in starting with indivdual workers and their workplaces--a workers' bill of rights.